Melquizael Costa

Overview

Six straight UFC wins, then a five-round main event that ended the run. Melquizael Costa, "The Dalmatian," is a Brazilian southpaw at featherweight who sits at 7-3 in the UFC and 26-8-0 across all promotions.

Three of his four UFC finishes came in the first round. The fourth came late, in round three. Three more wins went the full 15 minutes, all by unanimous decision.

Ten fights in, the picture is clear: a finisher with a submission-heavy game who lost two of his first three and one of his last four.

UFC Career

Costa debuted at UFC 283 in January 2023 and lost to Thiago Moises by submission in round two. He bounced back in July with a unanimous decision over Austin Lingo, but his third fight went badly: Steve Garcia stopped him with a second-round TKO at 1:01.

That left him 1-2, with a submission loss and a knockout loss in his first three fights.

What followed was the best stretch of his career. In June 2024 he submitted Shayilan Nuerdanbieke in round three. In 2025 he stayed active, beating Andre Fili by first-round submission at 4:30, then taking unanimous decisions over Christian Rodriguez and Julian Erosa. He closed out the year with a 1:14 TKO of Morgan Charriere.

In February 2026 he stopped Dan Ige with a first-round TKO at 4:56, four seconds from the end of the round. That made six in a row.

The streak ended in his first main event. He went five rounds with Arnold Allen, whom our model rates as a strong opponent, and lost a unanimous decision. He carries that loss into his next fight.

It was his first five-round fight, and it went the distance.

Fighting Style

Costa is a busy striker who is hard to hit. He lands more strikes per minute than most UFC fighters and takes fewer, while his accuracy and defense sit around the UFC average.

His grappling is where he really separates himself. His takedown numbers are ordinary on both offense and defense, but he hunts for submissions far more than most fighters do. Two of his seven wins came by submission: Fili in round one and Nuerdanbieke in round three.

He is not only a submission threat. Two of his wins came by TKO, both in round one, and three of his four finishes have come in the first round.

Notable Wins

• Dan Ige — KO/TKO, round 1 (4:56), UFC Fight Night: Strickland vs. Hernandez (2026)
• Andre Fili — submission, round 1 (4:30), UFC Fight Night: Cejudo vs. Song (2025)
• Morgan Charriere — KO/TKO, round 1 (1:14), UFC Fight Night: Royval vs. Kape (2025)
• Shayilan Nuerdanbieke — submission, round 3 (1:50), UFC Fight Night: Perez vs. Taira (2024)

Quick Facts

• Division: Featherweight
• UFC record: 7-3 (4 finishes: 2 KO/TKO, 2 submissions)
• Professional record (all promotions): 26-8-0
• UFC debut: January 2023
• Longest UFC win streak: 6
• Stance: Southpaw
• Height / reach: 5'10" / 71"
• Team: Chute Boxe
• Born: Porto de Moz, PA, Brazil